Director Udi Aloni talks via Zoom with philosopher Slavoj Žižek | LEFFEST - Lisboa Film Festival

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek and filmmaker Udi Aloni share a profound intellectual and creative friendship, rooted in their commitment to challenging dominant narratives and advocating for justice, particularly now in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Žižek, one of the world’s most influential living philosophers, has deeply impacted Aloni, who is known for intertwining art, philosophy, and activism in his work. In their upcoming dialogue, they will uncover critical insights into how media representations of war and genocide shape our perceptions and foreshadow a future that may be mired in conflict unless systemic injustices are addressed. In English.

Free admission.

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Slavoj Žižek, Udi Aloni

Slavoj Žižek is a famous Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and cultural critic. Interested in cinema, he considered becoming a film director, but chose instead to study philosophy and sociology at the University of Ljubljana. Nevertheless, cinema continues to play a fundamental role in his life and his work is distinguished by the fact that he regularly analyses cinematographic works from the perspective of philosophy and psychoanalysis. He gained international recognition with the publication in English of ‘The Sublime Object of Ideology’, in 1989, and since then his work encompasses more than 70 books published in various languages. Žižek is notorious for his distinctive style, whether through his published texts or his lectures, characterised by references to popular culture, radical opinions and assertiveness in presenting theories that do not seek to provide a solution, but rather question the status quo. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, a professor at New York University and the European Graduate School and a researcher at the Institute of Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana.

Udi Aloni is a ﬁlmmaker, writer, and artist whose work focuses on the interrelations between art, philosophy and activism. His movies and visual art projects have been presented in various leading museums, galleries, and ﬁlm festivals around the world, his book “What Does a Jew Want: On Bi-nationalism and Others Specters” was published by Columbia University Press. His work includes correspondences with the most pre-eminent philosophers of our time, including, Alain Badiou, Judith Butler, Naomi Klein, and Slavoj Žižek who wrote on Aloni: "Aloni's secular theology is definitely one of the most fascinating innovations of our time”. Aloni was teaching in the Freedom theater Jenin refugee camp till the assassination of his friend the late Juliano Mer Khamis and this days he is a guest lecturer at The Barenboim Said Academy in Berlin. Among his many awards are: Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature and Fairbindet Prize at the Berlinale International Film Festival; and Best Feature Film at the Tribeca Film Festival.